The Vatican Information Service is a news service, founded in the Holy See Press Office, that provides information about the Magisterium and the pastoral activities of the Holy Father and the Roman Curia...[+]

ARCHBISHOP MICHAEL L. FITZGERALD M. Afr., president of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue, on the afternoon of Sunday, September 25, inaugurated "Nostra Aetate Today," an international congress being held in the Pontifical Gregorian University to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Vatican Council II declaration on inter-religious relations. Over the three days of the congress, attention will be given to the question of Jewish-Christian relations, of Christian relations with the religious traditions of Asia, and of Muslim-Christian relations. Round table discussions will analyze progress made since the promulgation of "Nostra Aetate," and seek to propose future objectives.

THE CONGREGATION FOR INSTITUTES OF CONSECRATED LIFE AND SOCIETIES OF APOSTOLIC LIFE has organized a symposium to mark the 40th anniversary of the Vatican Council II decree "Perfectae caritatis." The aim of the gathering, being held in the Vatican's Synod Hall from September 26 - 27, is to consider developments in consecrated life over the last four decades, and to analyze the challenges of the current situation..../IN BRIEF/... VIS 20050926 (170)

VATICAN CITY, SEP 25, 2005 (VIS) - At midday today, following the Angelus, Benedict XVI greeted pilgrims in various languages then addressed them briefly on a number of subjects.

The Pope spoke first of the forthcoming celebration of World Tourism Day, describing it as "a social phenomenon of great importance in the world today." He went on: "I again express the hope that tourism always be accompanied by respect for people and cultures, and that it may favor dialogue and understanding." He also recalled that Thursday, September 29, is World Maritime Day, greeting and giving assurances of his prayers to all those who work at sea.

The Pope then addressed some words to English-speaking pilgrims. "Our thoughts go especially to those who are affected by the natural disasters in the United States and other parts of the world. I invite you to join me in prayer to the Lord for all who suffer, for the victims and their loved ones, and for the rescue workers."

Benedict then called on Spanish-speaking faithful to help those afflicted by natural disasters "collaborating effectively, with a generous spirit and Christian charity, to mitigate pain and overcome adversity."

The Pope concluded by greeting participants in an international meeting of Benedictine Oblates. "With the example and the intercession of St. Benedict, may you always be able to experience a profound friendship with Christ, and bear witness of it to everyone."ANG/TOURISM:NATURAL CATASTROPHES/... VIS 20050926 (250)

VATICAN CITY, SEP 25, 2005 (VIS) - In this his last Sunday at Castelgandolfo before returning to the Vatican later this week, the Holy Father continued his reflections on the Eucharistic mystery, highlighting the link between the Eucharist and charity.

Addressing pilgrims who had gathered to pray the Angelus in the internal courtyard of the pontifical residence of Castelgandolfo, the Pope pointed out that charity "does not primarily mean the beneficial act or sentiment, but the spiritual gift, the love of God that the Holy Spirit pours into the human heart, moving it to give itself in turn to God and to others."

After affirming that "Jesus' entire earthly existence, from conception to death on the cross, was a single act of love, to the point that we can sum up our faith in these words: 'Jesus Caritas,' Jesus Love," Benedict XVI recalled how during the Last Supper, the Lord entrusted the disciples with "His precious legacy, the Eucharist."

"In the Eucharist the Lord gives Himself to us with His body, His soul and His divinity, and we become one with Him and among ourselves. Our response to His love must, therefore, be a concrete response; it must be expressed in a true conversion to love, in forgiveness, in mutual acceptance and in attention to everyone's needs. Many and varied are the forms of service we can offer others in everyday life. The Eucharist thus becomes the source of spiritual energy that renews the world in the love of Christ."

The Pope presented the example of the saints "who from the Eucharist drew the strength for active and not infrequently heroic charity. My thoughts go to St. Vincent de Paul ... who used to affirm: 'What joy to serve the person of Christ in His poor limbs!' I think of Blessed Mother Teresa, founder of the Missionary Sisters of Charity, who in the poorest of the poor loved Christ, received and contemplated each day in the consecrated Host."

"Before and more than all the saints, divine love filled the heart of the Virgin Mary. ... Let us pray that all Christians, nourishing themselves in the Body and Blood of the Lord, grow ever more in love for God and in generous service to their brothers and sisters."ANG/EUCHARIST:CHARITY/... VIS 20050926 (390)

- Approved as "audiutores Secretarii specialis" (or experts) for the forthcoming Eleventh General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, the following individuals appointed by the secretary general of the Synod of Bishops:

- Mauro Agosto, professor of Latin at the Pontifical Lateran University, Rome. - Fr. Benezet Bujo, professor in the department of moral and ethical theology at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. - Fr. Nicola Bux, vice president of the St. Nicholas Institute of Ecumenical Theology, Bari, Italy. - Msgr. Mariano Crociata, vicar general of Mazara del Vallo, and professor of fundamental theology at the Faculty of Theology of Sicily, Palermo, Italy. - Msgr. Joseph Dinh Duc Dao, professor of missionary studies at the Pontifical Urban University, and vice director of the International Center of Missionary Animation (C.I.A.M.), Rome. - Fr. Juan Javier Flores Arcas, O.S.B., president of the Pontifical Liturgical Institute, faculty of liturgy of the St. Anselm Pontifical Athenaeum, Rome. - Fr. Ivan Fucek, S.J., theologian of the Apostolic Penitentiary, Rome. - Roberto Fusco, official of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Vatican City. - Fr. Cesare Giraudo, S.J., professor at the Pontifical Gregorian University and at the Pontifical Oriental Institute, Rome. - Fr. Manuel Gonzalez, professor of anthropological theology at the Faculty of Theology of Mexico. - Fr. Stephan Haering, O.S.B., monk of the abbey of Metten and professor of canon law at the University of Munich, Germany. - Fr. Joannes Leonardus Hermans, professor at the seminary of Roermond and Haarlem, Netherlands. - Fr. Juvenal Ilunga Muya, professor of dogmatic theology at the Pontifical Urban University, Rome. - Fr. David Maria A. Jaeger, O.F.M., professor of canon law at the at the Antonianum Pontifical Athenaeum, Rome. - Fr. Michael Kunzler, professor of liturgy at the "Theologische Fakultat," Paderborn, Germany, and member of the liturgical commission of the German Episcopal Conference. - Msgr. Ermenegildo Manicardi, dean of the Faculty of Theology of Emilia Romagna, Bologna, and rector of the "Almo Collegio Capranica," Rome. - Fr. Paolo Martinelli, O.F.M. Cap., president of the Franciscan institute of spirituality at the Antonianum Pontifical Athenaeum, and professor of dogmatic and spiritual theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome. - Fr. Alain Mattheeuws, S.J., professor of theology at the "Institut d'Etudes Theologiques," Belgium. - Fr. Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy and sacramental theology at the "Regina Apostolorum" Pontifical Athenaeum, Rome. - Msgr. Antonio Miralles, professor of dogmatic theology at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, Rome. - Fr. Francis Moloney, S.D.B., of the department of biblical studies at the Catholic University of America, Washington, U.S.A. - Fr. Roberto Nardin, O.S.B. Oliv., professor at the faculty of theology of the Pontifical Lateran University, Rome. - Fr. Godfrey I. Onah, professor of theology at the Pontifical Urban University, Rome. - Msgr. Gabriel Richi y Alberti, professor of theology at the St. Damasus Faculty of Theology, Madrid, Spain, and director of the International Study and Research Center (DASTS), Venice, Italy. - Fr. Fidelis Ruppert, O.S.B., abbot of Munsterschwarzach, Germany. - Fr. Ivan Sasko, professor of liturgy at the faculty of Catholic theology of the University of Zagreb, Croatia. - Thomas Soeding, professor of biblical theology at the "Bergische Universitat," Wuppertal, Germany. - Fr. Antonio Stagliano, professor of systematic theology at the St. Pius X Theological Institute, Catanzaro, Italy. - Msgr. Waldemar Turek of the Secretariat of State, Vatican City. - Fr. Cyril Vasil, S.J., dean of the faculty of eastern canon law, and vice rector of the Pontifical Oriental Institute, Rome. - Msgr. Timothy Verdon, professor of sacred art at the Faculty of Theology of Central Italy, Florence, Italy. - Fr. Boutros Yousif, professor of patrology and oriental liturgy at the Pontifical Oriental Institute, Rome.

- Approved as "auditores" (auditors) for the forthcoming Eleventh General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, the following individuals appointed by the secretary general of the Synod of Bishops:

- Carl Albert Anderson, Supreme Knight of the Order of the Knights of Columbus, U.S.A. - Sr. Rita Burley, A.C.I., superior general of the Handmaidens of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, United Kingdom. - Leonardo Casco, president of the "Alianza para la Familia," Honduras. - Martha Lorena Casco, president of the "Comite por la Vida," Honduras. - Sr. Maria Regina Cesarato, superior general of the Sisters, Pious Disciples of the Divine Master, Italy. - Yvonne Coly, educator at the "Mater Christi" center, Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso. - Moyses Lauro De Azevedo Filho, founder and moderator general of the Shalom Catholic community, Brazil. - Msgr. Peter John Elliott, director of the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and the Family in Melbourne, and member of the International Council for Catechesis, Australia. - Luis Fernando Figari, founder of "Sodalitium Vitae Christianae", Peru. - Francisco Jose Gomez Arguello Wirtz, co-founder of the Neo-Catechumenal Way, Spain. - Fr. Ignacio Gramsch Labra, parish vicar of San Luis Beltran de Pudahuel in Santiago de Chile; archdiocesan assessor for the pastoral care of acolytes, Chile. - Br. Marc Hayet, general director of the Little Brothers of Jesus, France. - Alexei V. Judin, professor of Church history and of inter-faith dialogue in the Russian Federation, Russian State University for the Humanities, St. Thomas College, Moscow, Russia. - Sr. Hermenegild Makoro, C.P.S., Missionary Sister of the Most Precious Blood, animator of the Christian community in Mthatha, South Africa. - Marie-Helene Mathieu, international coordinator of the "Foi Et Lumiere" movement, France. - Zbigniew Nosowski, director of the Catholic monthly "Wiez" of Warsaw, member of the national council of lay people, Poland. - Sr. Elvira Petrozzi, founder of the "Community of the Cenacle," Italy. - Andrea Riccardi, founder of the Community of Sant'Egidio, Italy. - Fr. Paul Rouhana, member of the central commission and of the secretariat general of the Patriarchal Maronite Synod, Lebanon. - Fr. Athanasius Schneider. O.R.S., secretary of the liturgical commission of the Episcopal Conference of Kazakhstan. - Sr. Renu Rita Silvano, member of the executive committee of the International Catholic Biblical Federation, director of the Catholic Bible Institute of Bombay, India. - Henrietta Tambunting ee Villa, former ambassador of the Philippines to the Holy See, Philippines. - Sr. Vittoria Tomarelli, A.S.C., of the Sisters Adorers of the Blood of Christ, Rome. - Bruna Tomasi, member of the executive board of the Focolari Movement, Italy. - Gioacchino Toscano, secretary general of the Confraternities of Italian Dioceses, Italy. - Sr. Margaret Wong, F.D.C.C., of the Canossian Sisters of Charity, promoter of centers of Eucharistic adoration, Hong Kong, China.NER:NA/.../... VIS 20050926 (1120)

VATICAN CITY, SEP 24, 2005 (VIS) - Archbishop Celestino Migliore, permanent observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, participated yesterday in the general debate of the 60th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, being held in New York.

Speaking in English, Archbishop Migliore indicated that, although the Holy See approves much of what is proposed in the summit's final document, "the lack of consensus on arms control and non-proliferation issues is regrettable."

He also stressed that "the Holy See understands the references to both the Cairo and Beijing International Conferences and to reproductive health ... in the sense that it set out in its reservations and statements of interpretation at those Conferences, that is, as applying to a holistic concept of health that does not consider abortion or access to abortion as a dimension of those terms."

We are living, he said, "in an interdependent but fragile society and, in many places, peoples' best interests are not served well. I should like to mention here but three specific areas of ethical challenge in this regard: solidarity with the poor; the promotion of the common good; and a sustainable environment."

On the subject of human rights and cultural diversity, the permanent observer pointed out that "international law and its institutions are vital for the application and enforcement of human rights. Likewise, we should not lose sight of the importance that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights attaches to the incorporation of its principles into national law, and to education in fostering a rights-respecting culture."

"The reference to duties in the Universal Declaration reminds us that rights usually entail responsibilities; and that if we expect our own rights to be respected, we must respect the rights of others. ... A greater sense of universal human duties would benefit the cause of peace, because awareness of our mutual responsibility acknowledges duties as essential to a social order which does not depend upon the will or power of any individual or group."

In closing, Archbishop Migliore turned to the question of religions, cultures and civilizations, affirming that "The Holy See supports the initiatives in the field of inter-faith cooperation and dialogue between civilizations especially where ... they form consciences, foster common moral values, and promote inter-cultural understanding and proactive commitments."DELSS/60TH SESSION/UN:MIGLIORE VIS 20050926 (390)

VATICAN CITY, SEP 24, 2005 (VIS) - The Office of Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff made public today the calendar of celebrations to be presided over by the Holy Father from October to December 2005:

OCTOBER

- Sunday, 2: 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time. At 9.30 a.m. in the Vatican Basilica, opening of the Eleventh Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops.

- Saturday, 15: At 6 p.m. in St. Peter's Square, meeting and moment of prayer with children receiving First Communion.

- Sunday, 23: 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time. At 10 a.m. in St. Peter's Square, conclusion of the Eleventh Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, and conclusion of the Year of the Eucharist. World Mission Day. Canonization of Blesseds Jozef Bilczewski, Gaetano Catanoso, Zygmunt Gorazdowski, Alberto Hurtado Cruchaga, and Felice da Nicosia.

- Thursday, 8: Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. At 10 a.m. in the Vatican Basilica, Mass for the 40th anniversary of the closing of Vatican Council II. At 4 p.m. in Rome's Piazza di Spagna, homage to Mary Immaculate.

- Sunday, 18: 4th Sunday of Advent. Pastoral visit to a Roman parish.

- Saturday, 24: Vigil of the Solemnity of the Birth of Our Lord. Midnight Mass in the Vatican Basilica.

- Sunday, 25: Solemnity of the Birth of Our Lord. At midday from the central loggia of the Vatican Basilica, "Urbi et Orbi" blessing.

- Saturday, 31: At 6 p.m. in the Vatican Basilica, first vespers of thanksgiving for the past year.BXVI-CALENDAR/OCTOBER-DECEMBER/... VIS 20050926 (480)